{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1803103"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1803103/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PM8633/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PM8633/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2026PM8633","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PM8634","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PM8632","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PM8631","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PM4148","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1803103/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1803103","accessionNumber":"T.139-2025","objectType":"Dress","titles":[{"title":"‘Rainbow Nation Dress'","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"Named Designer of the Year at the 2014 Africa Fashion Awards, Marianne Fassler opened her first shop in 1976, having taken design and pattern-cutting classes alongside her university studies. She named the shop Leopard Frock, a play on Leopard Rock, a popular place name in South Africa, and a neat allusion to what would become distinctive features of her work: her love of African design and leopard print and her belief in the importance of fun in fashion. The South African designer – who has offered ready-to-wear and bespoke womenswear from several Johannesburg bases – also became known for engaging with topical subjects and celebrating ethical, sustainable production. The atelier’s use of leftover fabrics suited its pattern mixing aesthetic, another of Fassler’s hallmarks.\n\r\nThe ‘Rainbow Nation Dress’ is one of Fassler’s defining creations. In the 1990s Desmond Tutu, the South African Anglican Archbishop and theologian, famously used the phrase ‘Rainbow nation’ to express his hope for a harmoniously diverse post-apartheid South Africa. At his 1994 inauguration as President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela spoke of building ‘a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world’. By 2012 – over a decade after the end of Mandela’s presidency and the year Fassler presented this dress – the designer was among those feeling disappointed about the state of the nation. The colour-blocked ‘Rainbow Nation Dress’ was a direct response to this feeling. It was also inspired by the grid pattern of Ghanaian Kente cloth, a textile most closely associated with Ghana. Fassler worked with a long-term collaborator, Colours 4 U, to achieve the effect. The South African firm expertly hand-dyed the fabric in numerous shades. The intensity of each colour block was enhanced by the multiple layers of dyed tulle.\n","physicalDescription":"Strapless, full-length tulle dress dyed in blocks of different colours which fade into one another. The colours used are orange, navy blue, coral, dark red, fuchsia, mid-blue, turquoise and bright yellow. There is some top stitching in yellow and white. The tulle wraps around the short bodice, creating a frill-like feature at the top and a peplum below. The full skirt falls in an A-line shape. The bodice is lined with black fabric and fastens at the centre back with a black zip.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Marianne Fassler","id":"AUTH392831"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"tulle","id":"AAT256611"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"block-dyed tulle","categories":[{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Womenswear","id":"THES49044"},{"text":"Politics","id":"THES48908"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2026PM8633","2026PM8634","2026PM8632","2026PM8631","2026PM4148"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES404267"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Dress","id":"x47499"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Johannesburg","id":"x32784"},"association":{"text":"designed and made","id":"x39722"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"2012","earliest":"2012-01-01","latest":"2012-12-31"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":"Autumn/Winter 2012"}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Marianne Fassler","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Circumference","value":"78","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"31/10/2025","earliest":"2025-10-31","latest":"2025-10-31"},"part":"bust","note":""},{"dimension":"Circumference","value":"65","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"31/10/2025","earliest":"2025-10-31","latest":"2025-10-31"},"part":"waist","note":""},{"dimension":"Circumference","value":"86","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"31/10/2025","earliest":"2025-10-31","latest":"2025-10-31"},"part":"hips","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"114","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"31/10/2025","earliest":"2025-10-31","latest":"2025-10-31"},"part":"skirt - waist to hem","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"136","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"31/10/2025","earliest":"2025-10-31","latest":"2025-10-31"},"part":"total length","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"measured by conservation","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"‘Marianne Fassler / MADE IN AFRICA’","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"black rectangular label with white text inside the dress bodice, parallel with the zip at the centre back"}],"objectHistory":"This dress, inspired by both politics and Kente cloth, was made for Marianne Fassler’s Autumn/Winter 2012 runway presentation. It was based on a quick sketch. Tulle was draped spontaneously onto the constructed bodice. The tulle was expertly hand-dyed to form colour blocks by Colours 4 U, a South African firm that Fassler had been working with since the early 1990s. The dress is a one off. The designer explained, ‘This was a concept, a political statement, never intended to be repeated for retail.’ The dress formed part of the designer’s archive before Fassler donated it to the V&A. It was worn in 2016 by the South African actor Terry Pheto for the Gaborone, Botswana, premiere of the film <i>A United Kingdom</i>.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"‘Rainbow Nation Dress’, block-dyed tulle, Marianne Fassler, Johannesburg, South Africa, Autumn/Winter 2012, tulle hand-dyed by Colours 4 U in South Africa","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Booklet provided by Marianne Fassler in 2025"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["T.139-2025"],"accessionNumberNum":"139","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":2025,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-30","recordCreationDate":"2025-04-17","availableToBook":false}}